White House: GOP filibuster on guns would be 'unfortunate'

3/26/13 1:27 PM EDT

White House press secretary Jay Carney suggested Tuesday that GOP Sens. Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and Rand Paul are out of step with the public on gun-control measures.

The three lawmakers have threatened to filibuster "any legislation that will serve as a vehicle for any additional gun restrictions.”

Carney said he hasn't spoken with President Obama about the threat, but the White House position is clear.

"Filibusters of efforts to move forward with common-sense measures to reduce gun violence would be unfortunate," he said. "We have worked with Congress, with the Senate, to try to advance the elements of the president’s plan that require legislative action and these again are common-sense measures.

"Closing gun-show loopholes, that’s an idea that has something like 90 percent support in the United States, by some polls has a majority of support among gun owners in America, support among Republicans and independents. We ought to be able to do this. But it's hard and we're continuing to work with Congress to get it done."

Paul, Cruz and Lee made the threat in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday.